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Bewildered, Des Esseintes looked on and listened to the cacophonous sounds of the names: the Encephalartos horridus, a gigantic iron rust-colored artichoke, like those put on portals of chateaux to foil wall climbers; the Cocos Micania, a sort of notched and slender palm surrounded by tall leaves resembling paddles and oars; the Zamia Lehmanni, an immense pineapple, a wondrous Chester leaf, planted in sweet-heather soil, its top bristling with barbed javelins and jagged arrows; the Cibotium Spectabile, surpassing the others by the craziness of its structure, hurling a defiance to revery, as it darted, through the palmated foliage, an enormous orang-outang tail, a hairy dark tail whose end was twisted into the shape of a bishop's cross.
It is one of the most beautiful of all Mamillarias; but it is, as yet, rare in collections. It requires the same treatment as M. longimamma, except that, owing to the woody nature of its rootstock, and its long, tap-like roots, it should be planted in pans instead of pots, using a compost of rough loam, mixed with lumps of broken brick or limestone. Mag. 3634, as M. Lehmanni.
The "cap" is cylindrical, 3 in. high by 4 in. in diameter, and composed of layers of snow-white threads, mixed with short reddish bristles. These three are the only species of Melocactus that have become known in English gardens, although various other kinds, named M. Lehmanni, M. Zuccarini, M. Ellemeetii, M. Schlumbergerianus, &c., occur in books.
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